Hutchison: Be quiet at State of the Union

2/10/13 9:55 AM EST

Former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has a novel idea for the State of the Union night: No more standing and clapping from members of Congress.

The Texas Republican who served three terms before not seeking re-election last fall, said members of Congress should sit quietly and listen to the president deliver his speech without any response.

“One of the best things about not being in the Senate anymore is not having to sit in that room and either having to stand up and clap every 15 seconds or sit on your hands for the whole thing,” she said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I just wish so much that we would have a moratorium on standing and let everybody listen like the people outside [in] the country are.”